Daffyd Knox pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates Court on March 4 to a single charge of knowingly possessing child pornography.
The 57-year-old was a disability support worker at Community Living and Respite Services, which was notified of the charges on March 8 and suspended Knox's employment immediately.
The charges, laid by Port Phillip police, stem from 2017. Knox was employed by CLRS in 2018.
CLRS chief executive Leah Taaffe said it was disappointing the organisation was not made aware of the allegations at the time, so it could have acted earlier.
“As soon as we were notified of the matter, we suspended the person in question from employment with us,” Ms Taaffe said.
“We are undertaking an internal investigation which will review any impact of this matter and are looking at ways to further strengthen our employment process.”
Ms Taaffe said when hiring Knox, CLRS applied all relevant checks, including police checks and the Victorian Disability Worker Exclusion Scheme, and completed referee checks.
“We additionally require all staff to hold a valid Working with Children Check and place all staff on the Carers Register. None of these checks identified any issues,” Ms Taaffe said.
“In addition, we employ shadowing shifts and complete an annual survey with clients and families.
“This year we are introducing a whistle-blower program and rolling out the new NDIS Worker Screening Check which will complete national ongoing monitoring of workers with clearances.”
Ms Taaffe said CLRS continued to work with Victoria Police and was providing whatever support and assistance required to its investigation.
“We want to assure the community that the welfare of our participants is paramount,” she said.
“We are undertaking an internal investigation which will review any impact of this matter and are looking at ways to further strengthen our employment process.
“The safety and trust of our participants and their families is paramount to CLRS and core to our values.
“We are offering support services to anyone in our CLRS community impacted by this event and encourage anyone with concerns to contact us or Victoria Police.”
Knox is due to be sentenced on September 9.
He has been placed on the sex offenders' register for eight years.
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